With the entry into force of the Informatics Law, which is expected to be discussed in the Assembly of the Republic tomorrow, illegally accessing, interfering, corrupting, deleting, changing, or preventing the information system or information data will be considered a crime; Those who commit cyber crimes can face imprisonment, fines or both imprisonment and fines.

In the law, crimes that will be punished with fines from 6 times the minimum wage to 200 times and imprisonment from 1 year to 10 years have also been determined. The most severe punishment will be given to offences related to child pornography. The prescribed prison sentence for this crime is 15 years.

Unauthorized access to computer systems and services, computer sabotage, computer fraud, forgery, unauthorized software, misuse of personal data, impersonation, illegal broadcasting, terrorist activities, child pornography, hacking, intellectual property, software and database violations of rights will be covered by cybercrime.

Access to publications made with the intention of injuring dignity or causing direct or indirect physical or mental harm to the person may be blocked. This will require a court order, but terrorism; In exceptional cases such as child pornography and illegal betting, the Information Technologies and Communications Authority (BTHK), which is the authorized institution in this regard, will be able to stop access to publications without a court decision.

In case of violation of privacy, such as the loss of personal and private data or their illegal acquisition or publication, access to the court may be blocked by a court decision.

The court will make its decision within the framework of the principle of proportionality. The expected benefit of blocking the access and the harm it will cause if not blocked will be evaluated.

While protecting the interests of one person or the interests of a small group, it will not be possible to block access to an issue that is likely to make many people suffer. Nor will it be decided to block access in a way that would result in the unconstitutional restriction of fundamental rights and freedoms.

Hasipoğlu said, “Due to the legal vacuum, the police could not take any action, and those who complained about cybercrimes were told 'no law'. There was no authorized institution to prevent access. Now BTHK will be the authorized institution to block access. Freedom of expression should not be worried about being restricted. The law specified in which cases access will be blocked. Fundamental rights and freedoms are inviolable. Access can also be blocked by a court decision in cases of violation of privacy, such as the loss of personal and private data or their illegal acquisition or publication.

Stating that the protection of personal data has become more difficult due to the dynamic nature of the internet environment, Hasipoğlu said, "Our aim is to ensure that our people can benefit from information technologies, receive or provide services in a free environment, in a secure area."

Oğuzhan Hasipoğlu also said that the law regulates the procedures and principles that will prevent activities that harm the confidentiality, accuracy and accessibility of information systems, networks and data, and their misuse.

Oğuzhan Hasipoğlu noted that there are also regulations in the law regarding the obligations and responsibilities of content, location, access and mass usage providers and internet news sites, and stated that all news sites will be required to have contact information.

Hasipoğlu said that BTHK may block access to news sites without citations.

Stating that the rules on violations of intellectual property, software and database rights will be implemented 3 years after this law comes into force, Hasipoğlu said, “The aim is to enable the completion of the legislation on copyright violations. We envisioned a transition period,” he said.

Oğuzhan Hasipoğlu said that with the entry into force of the Cybercrimes Law, changes should be made in other related laws such as Criminal, Press and Copyright.

Oğuzhan Hasipoğlu noted that those who set up a fake site with the aim of fraud or deceiving others, and who provide information to gain benefits will be deemed to have committed a crime, and said, "Those who forge their credit or debit cards will also be punished."

“Content providers that produce all kinds of information and data will be held responsible for the content they make available. The hosting providers that provide the environment where the content will be presented will not be responsible for content that does not belong to them. However, hosting providers will be obliged to prepare an environment where people can file complaints about the content. With this system called warn/remove, the data subject to the complaint will be processed. Internet service providers who are defined as access providers will not be responsible for the content they access but will be held responsible by law for keeping traffic data and also for executing access-blocking decisions.

Collective use providers, which are people who provide internet to people in certain places for a certain period of time, will be responsible for keeping the information needed to find the criminal in the investigation to be made in the event that people who use the internet commit a crime.

The location, access and mass use providers and internet news sites operating on the date of entry into force of the law will be obliged to fulfil their responsibilities within a year and a half (18 months).

“Only the court can make the decision to block access. In order to prevent content that constitutes a crime within the scope of TRNC legislation, the police will be able to apply to the Court in order to prevent content that does not constitute a crime but creates victimization.

The decision to block access can be made to prevent significant damage from occurring. The decision to block access will be made in cases where it is clear that the illegality will not be eliminated by any other measure other than the access ban, and the proportionality principle will be taken into account. The expected benefit and possible damage will be evaluated by the decision to block access. While protecting the interests of one person or the interests of a small group, it will not be possible to block access to an issue that is likely to make many people suffer. No decision can be made to block access in a way that would result in the restriction of fundamental rights and freedoms in violation of Article 11 of the Constitution.

Hasipoğlu said, "In this case, it will be a condition that a decision to block access will be taken by applying to the court within 24 hours following the blocking of access, otherwise the access block will be lifted."

Hasipoğlu noted that those who forge information on information systems and those who commit fraud through the information system can be sentenced to a fine of 100 to 200 times the minimum wage, and imprisonment from 8 years to 10 years.

Oğuzhan Hasipoğlu stated that those who take advantage of someone else's bank account, credit card or customer information can be fined up to 120 times the minimum wage, or imprisoned for up to 10 years, or both.

Emphasizing that unauthorized reproduction, modification, distribution, sale and publication of an idea or work of art through information systems will be considered a crime, Hasipoğlu stated that those who commit this crime can be fined up to 6 times the minimum wage, or imprisoned for up to 1 year, or both.